CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PIA) -- The government will bring the Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP) program in all towns and cities nationwide.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) of various agencies in the expansion of KNP in a ceremony held at the Pampanga Provincial Capitol Grounds.
Signatories include Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Presidential Communications Office, and Presidential Management Staff.
In his message, Marcos underscored that KNP is part of his eight-point socio-economic agenda to ensure food security, reinvigorate job creation and accelerate poverty reduction.
“The Kadiwa program is very simple. What we do is we bring the market closer to our farmers. This is why we lessen the added cost from the middlemen. In this way, we will be able to sell our products in lower prices,” he said.
It aims to make fresh agricultural and fishery commodities accessible at affordable prices to consumers, and establish additional markets for farmers, fisherfolks and micro enterprises to sell their products.
In addition, Marcos highlighted that the MOA will be a shared responsibility between the agencies and local government units (LGUs) to continue working together to provide cheaper and ample food to Filipino families.
“This [MOA] is one example on how, when we help each other, not only the various agencies of the national government but with our local governments, we will be successful in our plans, and in the programs that we design," he pressed.
He urged agencies and LGUs to continue their collaboration and partnership to give a comfortable life to the people.
With this, Marcos emphasized that the national government, through the DA, is conducting various initiatives to boost production to sustain the Kadiwa program and maintain affordable prices of basic commodities.
“That is what we’ve been working on in the DA and with all the attached agencies who are helping us in expanding and improving our production of rice, corn, fish, and find a solution to our problem about African Swine Fever, and our problem in avian flu,” he added.
For fishermen, the government provided cold storage facilities near fishing areas to lessen the probability of spoilage of aquatic foods. It is also working on the development of fishing grounds to increase the catch.
Marcos shared that the government is also bent in improving the country’s exports to support local businesses and bolster economic growth.
